1998
was a tremendous year for games in both hardware as well as games. We’ve
already started our best of ’98 coverage with Len’s article on hardware
Top Picks now I’d like to go back over the strategy, land and shooter titles
that have earned our top honors here at Combatsim as well as name our Best
O’ ’98 winners in each category.
1998
will stay a fond memory in my mind for many reasons; Microprose finally
brought us the sequel to their definitive modern armor simulation M1 Tank
Platoon II. Having been a former tanker I could not help myself but get
into this game, the same way I couldn’t help but get into SSI’s Panzer
Commander either. Armor has been almost a forgotten genre as the only tank
games that have come out the past few years have been more along the lines
of arcadish than serious, thankfully SSI and Microprose has righted this
with two very great sims.
It
was also the year a small company from North Carolina took the gaming community
by storm with their hyper realistic counter terrorist simulation Rainbow
Six. This shooter had my jaw hurting from hitting the floor when I first
took a gander at it during E3 and is an amazing leap in the first person
shooter genre. Novalogic also hit us with their highly addictive shooter
Delta Force and Zombie allowed us to jump into special operations with
their Spec Ops game and mission pack add-on.
The
strategy arena has been full of fun and action as well, Hasbro Interactive
has launched themselves onto the masses with ports of their famous board
games such as Axis and Allies, Battleship, RISK and Stratego. Sierra allowed
us to be “Emperor for a day” with their latest release in the Caesar series,
Caesar III, an excellent builder’s strategy game. WWII strategy games were
aplenty with titles such as Soldiers At War, 101st Airborne and Commandos
– Behind Enemy Lines. Fasa Interactive treated Battletech fans to an excellent
introductory title with their effort Mech Commander, an addictive real
time strategy game that grabs hold of you from the get-go.
That’s
just a few of the excellent titles we had to choose from this year and
’99 is looking even better with sequels to many of these games in the works.
Now that the year 1998 is over and we creep towards the Millenium let’s
see what games garnered out Best O’ ’98 awards!
LAND COMBAT SIM
M1 TANK PLATOON II - MICROPROSE
Best
O’ ’98 goes to Microprose and their excellent armor sim M1 Tank Platoon
II, a huge hit and proud successor to one of the most popular titles of
all time. Although I didn’t do the review on this one this sim hit a soft
spot with me being a former tanker. It brought me back to those good old
days of Table Eight’s and the thick smell of cordite in the turret.
An instant hit, an instant classic and one that can only become better
with
a bit more work, it has had some problems but overall it’s an excellent
representation of modern armor teams in battle. Any fan of armor should
own this one, it’s the closest you can get to real tank command without
enlisting.
RUNNER UP – PANZER COMMANDER -
SSI
Any
fan of WWII armor will want this one as it gives you a great feeling for
how tankers fought in the last Great War. With a 1.3 patch in the works
to include more fixes and additions it’s nice to see SSI show fans of this
game that they’re determined to satisfy everyone.
SQUAD SHOOTER
RAINBOW SIX – RED STORM ENTERTAINMENT
I
can’t speak highly enough for this game, what a GREAT game! Yes, it has
its quirks and AI troubles but overall this game is THE best realism based
shooter ever. Using a mix of strategy and action this title exudes attention
to detail, as you must plot each of your teams movement points and actions.
But that’s not it you also get to join in and take down tangos!
A hyper-realistic
simulation of what counter terrorist operatives do when called upon, this
game is a must for any fan of real world special operations. With some
great multiplayer action to be had in both head to head as well as cooperative
modes, Rainbow Six delivers edge of your seat action. As my quote on the
gamebox says “The immersion factor looks close to perfect” and it is a
very immersive title, if you haven’t gotten it yet I recommend you do.
RUNNER UP – DELTA FORCE – NOVALOGIC
A
very addictive shooter that gives us the largest outdoor environment to
run around in, Delta Force not only comes with a boatload of great single
player missions but excellent multiplayer action to boot. Single play mode
has you engaging in dozens of missions in real world locations and multiplayer
offers several exciting modes to test your mettle against gamers around
the globe on Novalogics free service NovaWorld.
STRATEGY
MECH COMMANDER – FASA INTERACTIVE
A
great freshman effort saw Chicago based Fasa Interactive bringing us Mech
Commander, another in the series of Battletech PC games. Unlike the classic
Mechwarrior series which had you piloting a 10 meter tall Battle Mech,
this game places you in the role of Company Commander in a real time strategy
mix of action.
Facing down the Smoke Jaguar Clan you as CO of the First
Davion Guards battle through 30 missions to liberate key planets the SJ
Clan had taken early on in an invasion of the Inner Sphere. With both excellent
single and multiplayer modes this one has all the action Battletech and
Mechwarrior everywhere could want. Recently Fasa Interactive became a part
of the ever-growing Microsoft Empire, which will help lend some horsepower
to the already known Battletech Universe allowing it to reach it ever-growing
fan base.
RUNNER UP – COMMANDOS: BEHIND
ENEMY LINES – EIDOS INTERACTIVE
Eidos
famous for its Cyber Babe Lara Croft brought us one of the most clever
real time strategy games I’ve enjoyed playing in recent memory. Unlike
other RTS games this one has you dealing with no build and conquer situations,
just straightforward strategy and action. You lead a ‘dirty half-dozen’
through a series of missions in WWII Europe and into the heart of the Third
Reich as you must battle Hitler’s minions in daring raids and actions.
With some great graphics and replayability this is a great game for any
real time strat fan.
I
can’t wait to see what the rest of ’99 has in store for us as it looks
to be another great year for gamers. With hardware prices continuing to
drop and the quality continuing to improve in speed and efficiency it looks
like a greater time than ever to be a gamer.
Some of the great titles we
have to look forward to this year the sequel to Rainbow Six (along with
the already released Eagle Watch mission pack), the Commandos mission pack,
Mech Commander Expansion pack, Spec Ops 2, Mechwarrior 3, Mech Commander
2 to name a few. Stay with us as we continue to bring you coverage in these
and other great titles on the horizon.
AWARD RECAP
LAND
COMBAT SIM - M1 TANK PLATOON II - MICROPROSE
SQUAD
SHOOTER - RAINBOW SIX - REDSTORM ENTERTAINMENT
